How To Choose The Best Software Outsourcing Company For Your Project?
Up to now, Industrial Revolution 4.0 has become the main trend impacting on every aspect of life, and on a global scale. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2018 report, Canada is the leading country in the industrial revolution, following by Japan, Germany, Australia, respectively. Asia, particularly China, Vietnam, and India, have grown significantly on the wave of the technological revolution. These countries have been well-known as outsourcing destinations for IT outsourcing for owning the skillful workforce and yet, low labor costs. However, how to choose the best (suitable) software outsourcing company for turning your ideas into the real-life, yet suit your project goals, is certainly questionable for each project manager.
First of all, what does it mean to be “the best software outsourcing company”? the best one, besides having strong technical competencies and project experiences, the company has to be excellently collaborative and is built on a clear philosophy. These ideas are going to be explained below.
A. IDENTIFY YOUR OUTSOURCING GOALS
01. What are your project needs for technological outsourcing?
What are the problems for which you need solutions? What are your expectations? Can these expectations be demonstrated clearly and informatively? Besides: budget, scopes, and key persons in charge of each problem are also needed to make sure, the project gets success in an optimal way. The manager of an outsourcing project must make all these parts clear, in order to adequately and effectively deliver to a service provider and to select the suitable one. Try to avoid general vague expectations, which usually fail the project goals.
02. Besides the project plan, create another project plan for outsourcing, which includes problems, scopes, personnel in charge of each problem, and budget
Besides the internal project plan above, the manager should make an external outsourcing project plan, as a communication strategy with the service provider, making sure all stakeholders of the project are pursuing the same goals and commit to an integrated way of working.
B. DEFINE OUTSOURCING TECHNOLOGICAL COMPANIES
03. Do some research basing on recommendations from affiliated websites: Sortlist, Clutch, Goodfirm, then list out top companies suitable for you
Nowadays, together with the explosion of technological outsourcing is the growing impact of large affiliated websites providing lists of top IT companies, some of the most famous: Sortlist, Clutch, Goodfirm…
Software companies get themselves listed on these websites and placed in the order of customer review, company interaction (comment, review, info update), and also by self-boosting.
By getting a list of recommended IT companies from these websites, you can save time on doing basic research, while ensuring the objectivity of the results for consideration.
04. Define, based on criteria: Company philosophy, Culture, Competency, and Experience
Next, create your own list of preferred Outsourcing companies by these following criteria and try to shorten to three options:
- Which outsourcing companies from the list have an affordable salary per hour for your company?
- Consider the scope of your project, how large the outsourcing companies need to be?
- Which companies have experienced a familiar project with yours?
- What are their competencies?
- What is their country of origin/company culture, language, philosophy?
The company’s years of operation can determine the company’s maturity which provides you with advanced qualified solutions. Large organizations can make sure risks are highly manageable, and backup system availability reduces the risk of failure. In addition, building a partnership with a large company is important if you think about future projects, in different industrial fields, complex requirements of services.
A Company’s philosophy includes its vision, mission, and values. These elements usually are ignored because they don’t directly impact on project goals. However, they do in an indirect way. Vision determines where the company is targeting, thus shows how they are doing to get there — strategy. Mission indicates the company’s reasons for existence. Values present their attributes to life, differentiate themselves from their competitors, and affirm their uniqueness. These elements, directly affect employees on what they think they are doing, how they are doing it? Are they doing their best? And their trust in the company, how can they get through challenges?
Staff is a foundation for the company operation. And the philosophy is the foundation for staff’s effort, which, obviously, are the quality builders for your project.
Next, company culture conveys ways of working, thus you can consider communication strategy and collaboration efficiency. Communication strategy such as language, way of working, channel. And collaboration: for example, an international, do they put people as their central value, personal backgrounds are respected, cultural differences are understood, employees are happy? Employees are the key person in charge of your project. If they are happy with their job, they probably are motivated to excel in your project goals.
What do we look at to review a company culture? Staff diversity, country of origin, company values, and customers. And during the project progress, do you want to discuss directly with the outsourcing company’s staff? — who are in charge of your project. If so, language is a must to consider. However, if you think that it is enough to discuss with the project manager from the outsourcing company, a smooth discussion between the two-side should be sufficient.
Check out these dimensions on their websites and select the ones that impressed you or have more in common with you.
READ MORE: Why outsourcing in Vietnam?
C. DISCUSS WITH COMPANY’S REPRESENTATIVES TO REACH A FINAL DECISION
05. Contact the representatives of the companies and make an agreement on the project contract.
The quickest way (unless you have already had some personal contacts with the outsourcing company) is to make a phone call, directly to the sales department and book a meeting. Be prepared to bring up the highlights of the project in order to gauge attention from the most favorite company on your list.
Direct speaking to a sales manager or a managing director of the outsourcing company is a way to evaluate their business professionalism and reckon the potential of collaboration.
Lastly, in addition, there are two points to be carefully considered in the offshore country: political stability and protection law on intellectual property.
Summary
In summary, in order to choose the best software outsourcing company for your business, the project manager needs to clearly understand and transfer the project plan for all stakeholders, and to the outsourcing agency. In terms of choosing a company, consider their service ranges, fields of industry, company cultures, and reach an agreement between parties. Last but not least, the country’s political stability, as well as intellectual property protection are definitely worth considering.
